Even some of President Obama’s supporters are beginning to grumble about what a terrible liar he is. He lies incessantly, often with a clumsy “as I have always said” introduction that seems positively delusional in the Google era. He seems determined to set a new record for broken campaign promises, against stiff competition from politicians of both parties. Veracity is a sliding scale for politicians, but Obama’s entire government tips that scale onto its side.

Broken promises are a fact of political life. There are relatively honorable reasons for some of them: a politician might change his mind because of new information, or find himself forced to compromise an unattainable goal. Deals and compromises are the meat and drink set at every political table. It’s not always bad when they change their minds. America is fortunate that Obama abandoned some of his most foolish promises to the Angry Left after his first national security briefings.

Even with the above qualifications, this is an exceptionally dishonest Presidency. If the public desires greater honesty, it must ensure the next chief executive presides over a dramatically smaller government. A large State will always degenerate into a dominion of liars.